Process of manufacturing combustible fluids.



1. R. ROSE. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING COMBUSTIBLE FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.29, I915- 1, 3@,226. Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

I j] 14 M M mi ox L'R. ROSE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING COMBUSTIBLE FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-29,1915- 1330,22. Patented June 19, 1917.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I k y u JAMES R. ROSE, OF EDGEWORTH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING COMBUSTIBLE FLUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19-, 1917.

Application filed November 29, 1915. Serial No. 64,099.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. Ross, a citizen .of the United States, residing at Edgeworth, in'the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Combustible Fluids, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. I

This invention relates to a process of manufacturing gaseous fuel, and more particularly to a process for producing a fuel such as is known to the trade as carbohydrogen and wherein hydrogen, as made by the electrolytic process or other processes, is injected into the mass of highly heated refractory material in connection with I another hydro-carbon, (either gaseous or liquid) which may be injected bythe hydrogen.

The invention has for its objects to produce a gas, of this kind in a particularly efficient and economical manner, also to produce a gas which has special advantages in connection with and which is particularly adapted for use in the cutting and welding arts.

I preferably realize my invention in and through an apparatus similar .to that shown, described and claimed in mycopending application No. 64,100, filed November 29, 1915, said apparatus being illustrated in the drawings forming a part hereof, wherein Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical sectional view through an apparatus for realizing my process; Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in plan, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken just below the chamber ,5 of the generator, and Fig. 3a sectional detail of 'the fuel supply connections.

Describing by reference characters the various parts illustrated herein, 1 denotes the outer shell and 2 the refractory lining of a generator, which generator is shown as oylindrical. This refractory lining may be of any suitable well known material, and the generator is so constructed as to provide a front flue or chamber 3 and a rear flue or chamber 4 communicating at their upper ends by a transverse flue or passageway 5.

Refractory material 2 is arranged in checker-work formation within the chambers 3 and 4 as well as in the bottom exten- 5 sion 3 of the chamber 3, which bottom extension is adapted to receive an enriching fluid in a manner to be described hereinafter.

It will be observed that the bottoms of the flues or. chambers 3, 3 and 4, are located a distance above the bottom of the generator body, whereby an ample thickness of refractory material 2 is provided below such chambers. v

6 denotes a partition, preferably of sheet steel, extending transversely across the generator between the flues or chambers 3, 3 and 4 and extending from the bottom of the generator upwardly to a distance below the top of the refractory dividing wall 2. This partition prevents seepage of gases from the chamber on one side thereof to the chamber on the opposite side thereof. 7 denotes a flue extending upwardly from the inner or rear end of the chamber 3*, preferably substantially as high as the partition 6, and having in the upper portion thereof a spray pipe 8. 9 denotes an inlet connection pipe communicating with-the front or charging wall of the generator 1 and discharging into the bottom'of the chamber 3. This connection is provided at its outer end with a gate valve 10 and is extended, as indicated at 9*, to a suitable air blower (not shown). 11 denotes a nozzle through which a suitable preheating fluid (such as gas, or liquid hydro-carbon) mixed with air (if desired) may be introduced into the bottom of the chamber 3 beneath thearch 3 This nozzle preferably extends axially into the connection 9 and is adapted to receive gaseous and liquid .fuel from the pipes 11-, 11 respectively, each having'avalve indicated at 11, 11, respectively. Y

The gaseous fuelin this case, asv indicated before, is hydrogen supplied under pressure, and the hydrogensupply pipe 11 is provided with an injector nozzle 11 which extends across the end of the gaseous or liquidhydro-carbon supply pipe 11*, whereby 'the hydrogen may serve to inject such gaseous or liquid fuel, the mixture thus obtained passing through the nozzle 11 into the connection 9 and thence into the bottom of the furnace or generator.

The fiues or chambers 3, 3 and 4, are provided with the checker work filling of -refractory material referred to hereinbefore and indicated at 2*, while the transverse flue 5 is provided with an outlet connection 13 thereon.

having a weighted blow-0E or pressurerelief valve therein, the operating handle whereof is indicated at 14.

From the arch 4 at the bottom of the the pipe 13, the operating handle of the.

valve being indicated at 17*.

From the top of the receptacle 16 and having its inlet end above the liquid therein extends a pipe 18, which communicates with the bottom of the scrubbing tank 19, having a series of transverse, perforated partitions therein with suitable porous material 21, such as coke, on said partitions and a spraying nozzle 22; in the upper end thereof above the uppermost partition and the material From this scrubber a pipe 23 ex tends into a tank 24 which may contain a hydro-carbon liquid of one of the higher or richer series, the pipe 23 being provided with perforations 23 beneath the top of the liquid in said tank whereby the gas disv charged from the scrubber may be further enriched. From the enriching tank 24 pipe 25 leads to a storage tank or to the point of use. From the front of the furnace 1, there project pipes or connections 26 which provide means for applying pyrometers to the chamber 3 or for the application of instruments for estimating the temperature by observation, as by a color test.

In operation, hydrogen is supplied under pressure through its pipe and through the" nozzle 11 and, the gate valve 10 being opened, a mixture of hydrogen and air is supplied to the bottom of the chambers 3, 3*.

If desired, natural gas or crude oil from the pipe 11 may be injected by the hydrogen nozzle 11 and this, mixed with air supplied through the pipe 9 may be used for the purpose of preheating the generator. The mixture of hydro-carbon and air, being ignited, burns in contact with the refractory material 12 in the front and rear chambers until the desired temperature is attained, as indicated by the pyrometers or sight tubes, at which time the air and fluid fuel will be turned off. The products of combustion resulting from this preheating operation will escape through the upper end of the pipe 17, the valve being opened or lifted by its handle 17* for the purpose of facilitating the discharge of such gases.

After this blowing-up or preheating operation, the hydrogen will again be turned on as well as the hydro-carbon supplied through the pipe 11. This mixture, coming into contact with the preheated refractory material, will, in its long and tortuous passage through the heated zone thus 'provided, be dis'associated and recombined into carbureted hydrogen or carbo-hydrogen, as pointed out in my application No. 98,552, filed May 19, 1916. In case the spray pipe 8 is used, a liquid hydro-carbon fuel 0 higher series than that introduced into the bottom of the chambers 3, 3, will be sprayed into the flue 7 through such pipe 8. This hydro-carbon will be partly disassociated in the flue or chamber 7. Some of the solid carbon which will be produced will be carried through the generator and deposited in I the trap 16. A large proportion of such solid carbon will, however, be deposited upon the refractory material 2 and will be consumed during the next blowing-up or preheating operation, thus utilizing its heat of combustion in the production of the car- 'bureted hydrogen or carbo-hydrogen in the generator. By supplying hydro-carbon fuel through the flue 7, avfuel of a higher series will be produced than that injected by the hydrogen into the chambers 8, 3. Where no such hydro-carbon is injected with the hydrogen, the hydro-carbon which is supplied through the flue or chamber 7 will form with the hydrogen and air 'carbureted hydrogen or carbo-hydrogen to any heat unit value desired, according to the amount of gas or liquid hydro-carbon supplied tothe generator by means of this'flue or chamber. Whatever free oxygen may be in the hydrogen will combine readily with the carbon of the added hydro-carbon to form earbureted hydrogen of higher fuel value, which fuel value may be further increased by the addition of the injected hydro-can bon.

The gas thus produced in the generator 1 will be conducted through the trap 16,

.which will trap any solid carbon that may be present and will then :be conducted through the scrubbing tank 19'as explained heretofore, and may then be further enriched, if desirable, by being discharged into and through the hydro-carbon liquid in'the enriching tank 24.

This hydro-carbon liquid in the tank 24 may be benzene, naphthalene, or any other volatile hydro-carbon of a sufficiently high series, and the resultant fluid will not separate or stratify when stored under pressure.

At the end of the operation, because of the disassociation of the hydro-carbon supplied through the nozzle 11 and pipe 8, a

.considerable quantity of solid carbon will be deposited upon the refractory material with which the generator chambers are supplied. This will furnish. a material part of the combustible agent whereby the refractory material will be heated during the next blowing-up operation.

The temperature to which the refractory material 2 will be heated by the operation of blowing-up may be as high as 3000 F. and is preferably no lower than 2200 F.,-it being noted that the higher the temperature between these-two limits the greater will be the proportion of hydrogen and the less will be the proportion of the C H and ,H series in the resultant carbohydrogen.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The process of producing combustible fluid which comprises injecting into a generator, by a stream of hydrogen under pressure, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon, supplying to such mixture in the generator a liquid hydrocarbon of different series from that injected by the hydrogen, and subjecting the mixture of the three fluids in such generator to the action of highly heated refractory material.

2. The process of producing combustible fluid which comprises injecting into a generator by a stream of hydrogen under pressure, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon, supplying to such mixture in the generator a liquid hydrocarbon of different series from that injected by the hydrogen, and subjecting the mixture of the three fluids in such generator to the action of heat sufficient to disassociate the hydrocarbon fluids and to produce with the gaseous constituents thereof and the hydrogen a gaseous compound.

3. The process of producing a combustible fluid which comprises injecting into a generator, by a stream of hydrogen gas under pressure, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon, adding to the mixture thus produced within the generator a hydrocarbon liquid, subjecting the mingled fluids to the action of highly heated refractory material in the generator, removing from the gaseous fuel thus produced any free carbon that may be therein, scrubbing the gas after such removal of carbon, and conducting the gas thus produced through liquid hydrocarbon thereby to enrich the same.

4. The process of producing a combustible fluid which comprises supplying to a generator hydrogen gas and liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon, adding to the mixture thus produced within the generator a hydrocarbon liquid, subjecting the mingled fluids to the action of heat suflicient to disassociate the hydrocarbon fluids and to produce from,

the gaseous constituents thereof and the hydrogen a gaseous compound, and con ducting the said compound thus produced through liquid hydrocarbon thereby to enrich the same.

5. The process of producing combustible fluid which includes the introduction into a generator ofhydrogen and liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon, supplying to such mixture in the generator a liquid hydrocarbon of different series from that supplied with the hydrogen, and subjecting the mixture of the three fluids in such generator to the action ofhighly-heated refractory material.-

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

J. R. ROSE. 

